Card display packaging



y 6 w. s. PEPPLER 3,248,842

CARD DI SPLAY PACKAG ING Filed April 9, 1963 INVENTOR WILLIAM S. PEPPLER ATTORNEY United States Patent Oflice 3,248,842 Patented May 3, 1966 3,248,842 CARD DISPLAY PACKAGING William S. Peppler, Chappaqua, N.Y., assignor to Diamond International Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 271,637 1 Claim. (CI. 53-30) sisted of a preformed plastic blister which was inserted into a windowed card. Further development provided equipment which formed a film cavity or blister in the plastic sheet as part of the assembly packaging line. However, even these later developed methods required elaborate cavity forming equipment and complex processing arrangements. either to provide a blister for only one package size or provide relatively inflexible devices for altering the size and shape of the blister.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention. to provide a new and improved method of assembling and forming display packages of the stretchable film, skin, or blister packaging types.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity of cavity forming equipment and complex assembly arrangements in providing display packages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a highly flexible packaging method for changing package sizes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved display packaging method which is simple and economical to practice and yet results in a highly desirable and attractive package.

These and other objects and the nature and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a stiff supporting card in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3-8 are views similar to FIG. 2 showing schematically the sequence of the method of the present invention.

The resultant card-display package of the method of the present invention is shown in FIG. 8. The article is contained in a conforming plastic bag 12 and is supported at the rear by backing card 14 which seals the mouth of the bag 12. Providing support for the assembly is stiff card 16 which is preferably (as shown by the drawing) a folded section of the same sheet as backing card 14. Stiff card 16 and backing card 14 are, preferably formed of stiff paper or cardboard but may be formed of any suitable material such as plastic.

In accordance with the process of the present invention a card 16 with an opening 18 therein, large enough for the article which is to be packaged to pass through, is positioned for either automatic or manual packaging. Stiff card 16 preferably has a fold line 20 and an extension beyond the fold line 20 which comprises backing card 14. However, backing card 14 may be provided as a separate card.

The top surface 22 of card 16 may be coated with a heat sensitive adhesive. Such adhesives are commonly known and are commercially available. The heat sensitive adhesive coating may be continuous and exist over the entire top surface 22 of stiff card 16, and, in fact, may ex- ,tend to the upper or front facing surface 24 of backing card 14. Alternatively, just surface 22 may be coated with the heat sensitive adhesive. The adhesive coating may be discontinuous if desired and may extend or be provided only at desirable portions, such as entirely or partially around the periphery of opening 18 or at either or both ends of card 16. Instead of providing surface 22 with an adhesive coating, it may be desirable to instead coat only surface 24 with an adhesive coating. In this case the adhesive may, if desired, be a contact or pressure sensitive adhesive.

In addition these prior methods are able After positioning the card 16, an oversized sheet of shrinkable film 26 is placed over the opening 18 in the card 16. Shrinkable film 26 is preferably formed of a heat shrinkable plastic such as biaxially oriented polyethylene or polypropylene. However, any shrinkable type of plastic film may be used provided the film is relatively transparent. After positioning sheet 26 above opening 18, the center of sheet 26 is pushed through opening 18 in card 16 without anchoring the edges of the sheet to provide a bag 12 extending through the opening 18. The edges 28 of plastic sheet 26 remain adjacent the top surface 22 of sheet 16. This configuration is shown in FIG. 4 with the top surface 22 of card 16 provided with a heat sensitive adhesive coating 30 extending about the periphery of opening 18. The plastic bag 12 is maintained in position by frictional engagement with the wall of opening 18.

The article to be packaged is next placed in bag 12 by passing it through the mouth of the bag and the opening 18 in card 16. The next phase of the process involves placing the backing card14 against the top or back facing.

surface 22 of stiff card 16 to effect sealing or closure of the open end of bag 12 and to seal or frictionally engage edges 28 of the bag 12. The sealing engagement of cards 14 and 16 and edges 28 may be effected in any suitable manner such as by passing a rivot or staple through the two cards or by contacting the space between the two cards with a suitable adhesive such as a contact or heat sensitive adhesive as shown at 32. If, as previously stated, the front facing surface 24 of the backing card 14 has been provided with a contact adhesive, then upon sealing the backing card 14 against the back or top surface 22 of the stiff card 16, the card 16 as well as the edges 28 of the plastic bag 12 will be bonded to front top surface 24 of backing card 14.

After the sealing of the open end of bag 12 with backing card 14, the plastic bag is shrunk in order to conform to the contour of the packaged article. If the bag 12 is formed of a heat shrinkable plastic film, then the shrinkage is eifected by applying heat. This may be carried out such as shown in FIG. 7 wherein radiant heat is applied vi'a heat lamp 32. As an alternative, the package may be exposed to blasts of hot air or passed through an oven. If the backing card and/ or stiff support card have been coated with heat sensitive adhesives as described above, then the application of heat to effect shrinkage of bag 12 will also effect bonding in the areas of adhesive contact. In this manner edges 28 of bag 12 may be bonded to either or both of surfaces 22 and 24 of cards 16 and 14 respectively, and also in this manner card 14 may be bonded to card 16.

3 It Will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made Without departing from the scope of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited as to What is described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A method of display packaging comprising:

(1) providing a relatively stiff card With an opening therein and with a heat sensitive adhesive provided on its back surface at least partially around the periphery of the opening;

(2) pushing an oversized, unanchored sheet of heatshrinkable, transparent plastic film through the opening in said carton Without anchoring the edges of the sheet to form an open ended plastic bag extending through the plane of said card;

(3) thereafter passing an article to be packaged completely through the open end of the bag and through the opening in the card and into said plastic bag;

I (4) sealing a backing card against the back surface of said stilt card to close the open end of the bag and seal the film edges; and

(5) applying heat to simultaneously bond the film edges to the back surface of said stiff card and shrink the plastic film to contour the film to the shape of the article.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,809,863 10/1957 Curran 20680 XR 2,967,383 1/1961 Rumsey.

3,053,023 9/1962 Watts 53-3O 3,064,402 11/1962 Crane 533O 3,075,330 1/1963 Swezey 53184 3,175,338 3/1965 Ahlgren et al. 53390 3,179,246 4/1965 Rosenburg 20678 3,192,681 7/1965 Greenbaum 5330 OTHER REFERENCES O FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

S. ABEND, W. M. COHEN, Assistant Examiners. 

